Interdeck ladder apparatus



NOV. 13, 19.45. N DAHLANDER i 2,388,678

INTER-DECK LADDER APPARATUS Filed May 8, 1943 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 v INVENTOR /VOL L AH/.A Num ATTORNEY Wwf A Nov. 13, 1945,

N. L. DAHLANDER INTER-DECK LADDER APPARATUS Filed May 8, 1945 2 Sheef'S-SheerI 2 /VU'L L. AHLANUER M Z4' ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 13, 1945 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE IN TERDECK LADDER APPARATUS Nol L. Dahlander, New York, N. Y., assignor of one-half to Robert J. Earl, New Canaan,

Conn.

Application May 8, 1943, Serial No. 486,157

8 Claims.

n one or more decks to be distorted out of shape.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved inter-deck ladder apparatus which will accommodate itself to varying distances between two decks to provide an eiiicient support for users to pass down onto or out from a lower deck.

More broadly, one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a ladder which can be suspended from an upper level to a lower level and then be extended into operative attachment with the lower level by a user stepping and exercising his weight on one of the rungs or supporting 4devices of the ladder.

V'I'hese and other features, capabilitiesv and advantages of the invention will appear from specific embodiments thereof illustrated in th'e accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a fragmental sectional view of two adjacent levels of a building, vessel or the like equipped with the present improved ladder apparatus made according to one embodiment thereof.

Fig. 2 is a fragmental front elevation of a part of the improved ladder apparatus made according to the embodiment shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmental perspective of a portion of the ladder apparatus in closed position made according to the embodiment shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a fragmental sectional front elevation of anoth'er embodiment of the improved ladder apparatus.

Fig. 5 is a fragmental section in end elevation of the embodiment of the ladder apparatus shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 46 is a fragmental enlarged elevation of one suspensory element with its associated rungV and attachment made according to the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 1.

Fig, 7 is a fragmental view partly invsection of a suspensory member and its attachment made according to a modification of the embodiment illustrated in Fig. 6.

According to the embodiment illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 6, there is provided 'an upper deck l supported upon I-beams/ 2, 2 having an opening or hatchway 3 providedwith' a combing 4 connected to the deck l in the usual way and surrounding the opening or hatchway 3. At one end of the hatchway 3 there is provided the companionway or ladder 5 extending down to 'th'e uppery face ofthe lower deck 6 in the usual Way,

this ladder 5 being illustrated as constituting a rigid companionway.

The improved ladder mechanism now to be de- I scribed is intended to supplement the ladder 5 and to serve in an emergency when the ladder 5 has been destroyed or its usefulness impaired due, as an instance, to an explosion, bombing, or the like. As constituting an important part of this emergency ladder apparatus, there is provided a chain ladder having two suspensory elements I and 8 provided With transversely extending rungs 9, preferably rigid, and composed of iron or wooden bars, a hollow metal bar being illustrated i in Fig. 6. Preferably the upper ends of the suspensory elements "I and 8 are preferably composed of links I6 such as shown in Fig. 6. In some instances it may be desirable, as shown in Fig, 6, to have the coil springs disposed near the lower ends of the suspensory elements l and 8, see as an instance the coil spring Il. When the coil springs are connected to the lower ends of the suspensory elements 'I and 8, however, they must, to satisfy the present invention, be disposed at least above the lowermost rung 9. The reason for so locating the coil springs l0, Il or Il above the lowermost rung 9 is that the user may step upon the lowermost rung 9 and by the weight of his body extend the coil springs I0, II or Il so that the lowermost ends of the suspensory elements l and L 8 may be positioned to be attached. In the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 6, the lowermost ends of the suspensory elements I and 8 are provided With openhooks I8 which when positioned by extending coil springs IB, Il or Il, will pass around the fixed rod I9 in the cup 20 connected to the deck 6 and extending below the upper level thereof as shown in Fig. 6.

In place of the hook I8, as shownin Fig.r 7, the lowermost ends of the suspensory elements 'l and 8 may be provided with the transversely extending bar or rung 2| which when depressed low enough will be positioned to receive the hook or a pair of hooks 22, which hook preferebaly is pivotally connected at 23 in a cup 24 connected to the lower deck 6 and extending below the uptioned in the basket 28. This basket 28, and the per face thereof. 'I'he cup 24 is preferably large enough to permit the hook 22 to be housed in the same when out of use as shown in'dotted line position in Fig. v'7; The hook 22 preferably has an abutment'face 26 to'engage the inner face of the cup 24 in raised positionas shown in full line position in Fig. 7.

When out .of use the chain ladder is preferably rolled up into the roll 21, see Fig. 1, and posimeans for controlling it, constitute another important part of the present invention.

The basket 28 preferably has a perforated curved wall 29, see Fig. 3. The end walls 30 and 3| are tied together at the rear by strap 32 and may also be composed of perforated material to reduce the weight thereof. However, at least the front curved wall 29 should be composed of perforated material to allow water or the like to pass therethrough when the basket 28 is in the supporting position shown in Figs. 1 and 3, The strap 32 of the basket 28 in supporting position is disposed against the plate 33 secured to the webs 34 and 35 of an I-beam 2. The lower face of the basket 28 is provided with two bars 36 and 31, pivotally connected by the pins 38 and 39, to rigidly positioned bars 40 and 4| xed to the lower faces of the web 35 of the aforesaid I-beam 2. The bars 36, S1 are provided, as shown, to enable the basket 28 in suspended position, the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1, to swing clear of the chain ladder consisting of the suspensory elements 1, 8 and rungs 9 connected to the projections |4 and I5.

The basket 28 when supporting the rolled up chain ladder 21, as shown in Fig. 1, is connected by a latch or the like. According to the embodiment shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 the latch may consist of a lever 42 pivotally connected at 43 to a bracket or support extending from one face of the sheet 33, with one arm extending through an opening 44 in the sheet 33, and having its head 45 provided with a lip to engage the upper edge of the strap 32 of the basket 28 and resiliently so positioned by the flat spring 46 extending from the rear face of the sheet 33 and engaging the lower face of the rear extension 41 of the lever 42. When it is desired to release the basket 28 and allow it to swing down into the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1, thereby to enable the chain to drop down into suspended position, it is only necessary to actuate the lever 42. For this purpose the rear extension 41 is provided with a chain 48 having a ring 49 at the lower end thereof to be grasped by a user, Y The chain 48, as shown in Fig. 1, will pass through an opening 50 formed in the web 35 of the I-bearn 2. Obviously,

when the basket 28 has once been released it will engage the chain 48 and merely swing it out of the way with it. On the other hand, if-the user is located on the deck I, it will only be necessary for him to engage the chain connected to the head 45 and provided with a ring 52- at its upper end supported on the hook 53. By engaging this chain 5| or the ring 52 thereof and pulling on the same, against the tension of the spring 48, the head 45 will of course again release the basket 28 and allow it t'o drop into the dotted line position shown in Fig. l.

In the embodiment shown in Figs. 4 andV 5 another means is provided for anchoring the basket in supporting position, and another means for controlling the release of such anchoring means. The basket in Figs. 4 and 5 is designated 54 and is provided with two outwardly extending arms 55 and 56 secured to the outer faces of its end walls 51 and 58, respectively. These arms 55 and 5B in supporting position of the basket 54 will be engaged by the projections 59 on the ngers 60 and 6I secured to the shaft 62 journalled in the brackets 53, 64, 65 and 66 secured to and extending from the sheet 61 connected to the` edges of the webs 68 and 69 of the I-beam 10, see particularly Fig. 5. Between the brackets 64 and B5 the shaft 5,5 is bent to form a bell-crank extension 1.| to

which there is connected a chain 12 extended down through the groove 13 formed in the sheet 61. The rear strap 14 of the basket 54 is provided with a groove 15 similar in formation to the groove 13 of the sheet 61 to clear the same when the basket 54 is in raised or supporting position. With this embodiment, when it is desired to release the basket 54 from the arms 60 and 6|, it is only necessary to depress the bell-crank extension 1|, either by the user or attendant on the upper deck stepping on the same and depressing it, or for the user or attendant on the lower deck engaging the chain 12 and exercising a downward pull on the same.

It is obvious that various changes and modifications may be made to the details of construction without departing from the general spirit of the invention as set forth in the appended claims,

As an instance, instead of having either the coil springs |I1 and Il at one end or the coil springs l1 at the other end, it may be desirable to have coil springs at both ends of the exible ladder. For the purpose of the present invention, however, it is preferable if both sets of coil springs will be positioned above the lowermost rung 9 so that advantage may be taken of the yieldability of the suspensory elements above the lowermost rung when the Weight of the user is exercised on the lowermost rung to extend the suspensory elements to be attached to an abutment formed on, or associated with, the lower level or lower deck.

The flexible or chain ladder, while preferably rolled up into the form shown in Fig. 1, may be folded up into the basket or container 28 in Other forms. The container or basket 28 to satisfy the present invention is mainly provided to collect or support the flexible chain in a collectable form out of the way of users of the lower deck or lower level, when the emergency ladder is not in use.

Furthermore, although the flexible ladder and container 2.8 in the embodiment shown in Figs, 1, 2 and 3 are operatively connected to a metal sheet connected to the supporting Lbeam of the upper deck, it is of course obvious that the sheet 33 and I-beam 2 merely serve as a supporting frame, and any othersupporting frame would ordinarily satisfy this featurel of the present invention.

I claim:

1.. The combination of a frame, a lo-wer deck or level below said frame, an intact container open at the top operatively connected to said frame, a flexible ladder connected at one end to'said frame and collectable into said container, means for anchoring said container with its open side at the top to. support said ladder when collected, said means being releasable to enablel said con- -tainer to swing downwardly with its open side facing downwardly to discharge said ladder into suspended position, said anchoring means including abutments on the ends of said container, a shaft, brackets secured to said frame and forming journals for said shaft, latch arms on said shaft for engaging said abutments and anchoring said container in supporting position, a bell-crank extension in said shaft, and control means operatively connected to. said bell-crank extension for actuating the same. to release said container.

2. The combination of a frame, a lower decl; or level below said frame, an intact container open at thev top operatively connected to said frame, a, flexible ladder connected at one end to said frame and collectablev into said container, means for anchoring said container with its open side at the top to support said ladder when collected, said means being releasable to enable said container to swing downwardly with its open side facing downwardly to discharge said ladder into suspended position, said anchoring means including abutments on the ends of said container, a shaft, brackets secured to said frame and forming journals for said shaft, latch arms on said shaft for engaging said abutments and anchoring said container in supporting position, a bell-crank extension in said shaft, said bell-crank extension being accessible from above for actuation to release said container, and a flexible extension connected to said bellcrank extension and suspended therefrom to be actuated from below to release said container.

3. The combination of a frame, a lower deck or level below said frame, an vintact container open at the top operatively connected to said frame, a iiexible ladder connected at one end to said frame and collectable into said container, means for anchoring said container with its open side at the top to support said ladder when collected, said means being releasable to enable said container to swing downwardly with its open side facing downwardly to discharge said ladder into suspended position, said anchoring means including abutments on the ends of said container, a

shaft, brackets secured to said frame and forming journals for said shaft, latch arms on said shaft for engaging said abutments and anchoring said container in supporting position, a bell-crank extension in said shaft, said bell-crank extension being accessible from above for actuation to release said container, a iiexible extension connected to said bell-crank extension and suspended therefrom to be actuated from below to release said container, and conforming grooves in said frame and container to form a clearance for said flexible extension.

4. The combination of a frame, a container having a plane rear wall, side walls and an arcuate wall forming a continuous bottom and front wall to form a discharging chute for the container, an extension extending rearward from the intersection between said arcuate wall and said rear wall, the rear end of said extensionV being pivotally connected to said frame, an anchor on said frame for normally engaging and anchoring the upper end of said rear wall in erect position of said container, and a flexible ladder connected at one end to said frame above said rear wall when in erect position and collectable in said container, said anchor being releasable to enable said container to swing downwardly about its pivotal connection to discharge said ladder into suspended position from said frame, said extension enabling said container when swung downwardly to clear said ladder' in suspended position.

5. The combination of a frame, a container having a plane rear wall, sidewalls and an arcuate wall forming a continuous bottom and front wall to form a discharging chute for the container, an extension extending rearward from the intersection between said arcuate wall and said rear wall, the rear end of said extension being pivotally connected to said frame, an anchor on said frame for normally engaging and anchoring the upper end of said rear wall in erect position of said container, and a flexible ladder connected at one end to said frame above said rear wall' when in erect position and collectable in said container, said anchor being releasable to enable said container to swing downwardly about it-s pivotal connection to discharge said ladder into suspended position from said frame, said extension enabling said container when swung downwardly to clear said ladder in suspended position, said arcuate wall being perforated to allow water and the like to drain from the container.

6. The combination of an I-beam overhead frame with its intermediate web extending vertically, a container having a plane rear wall, side walls and a chute forming a continuous bottom and front wall, arms extending rearwardly from the lower end of said rear wall, means for pivotally connecting the rear ends of said arms to the lower face of said frame sufficiently remote from the front end thereof to enable said container in erect position to be positioned along the front face of said frame, an anchor for normally engaging and anchoring the upper end of said rear wall in erect position of said container, and

a flexible ladder connected at one end to said.

frame above said rear wall in erect position and collectable in said container, said anchor being releasable to enable said container to swing downwardly about its pivotal connecting means to discharge said ladder into suspended position from said frame, said arms enabling said container when swung downwardly to clear said ladder in suspended position.

7. The combination of a frame, a container having a plane rear wall, side walls and an arcuate wall forming a, continuous bottom and front wall to form a discharging chute for the container, means for pivotally connecting the intersection between said arcuate wall and said rear wall to said frame, an anchor on said frame for normally engaging and anchoring the upper end of said rear wall in erect position of said container, and a flexible ladder connected at one end to said frame above said rear wall when in erect position and collectable in said container, said anchor being releasable to enable said container to swing downwardly about its pivotal connection to discharge said ladder into suspeneded position from said frame, said pivotal means enabling said container when swung downwardly to swing rearward and allow said ladder to drop into suspended position.

8. The combination of an I-beam overhead frame with its intermediate web extending vertically, a container having a plane rear wall, side walls and a chute forming a continuous bottom and front wall, means for pivotally connecting the lower end of said rear wall to the lower face of said frame sufciently remote from the front end thereof to enable said container in erect position to be positioned along the front face of said frame, an anchor for normally engaging and anchoring the upper end of said rear wall in erect position of said container, and a flexible ladder connected at one end to said frame above said rear wall in erect position and collectable in said container, said anchor being releasable to enable said container to swing downwardly about its pivotal connecting means to discharge said ladder into suspended position from said frame, said pivotal means enabling said container when swung downwardly to swing rearward and allow said ladder to drop into suspended position.

NO'E'L L. DAHLANDER. 

